Stopping heart medication and coming to terms with the long term health risks when weighed against their effect on ones current wellbeing.
Hi 👋 Everyone, back to the fold was... - British Heart Fou...
Hi 👋 Everyone, back to the fold was on the forum following my Bypass September 2022 (Denis1950 ) quit due to stress/heart medication.
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Eugene1950
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Hello 
I know you will have given this some great consideration and talked it through with your Consultant and Doctors and if this is the right decision for you and you alone then I wish you all the best x
Eugene1950• in reply to
Thanks for your caring reply. Did lose a couple of nights sleep to be honest but hats off to BHF help line. For people in our situation it's a godsend. You can't just ring the doctor and ask their advice and a week seems an awful long time to speak to a health profesional when you're totally stressed out. X
• in reply toEugene1950
Hello
You are right we cannot just talk to a Doctor like we used to be able to and I am so pleased that you have got so much from talking with the BHF Nurses
Sounds like I said you have given this a lot of thought and it will be best for you x
I know sometimes it feels that the treatment is worth than the disease, but I hope you have discussed this with your GP at least. Are there alternative drugs you could try?
Oops. That should be "Worse", not "worth". 🤐
Thanks Rufus. Of course I did speak to my GP and as luck would have it I had a telephone appointment a couple of days after I'd spoken to him with a cardiologist. He was quite happy to see me drop the Clopidogrel as I was 5 months on from my Bypass and no issues with my health. Not so much with the Statins but they are a polarising issue.
God I feel for you. Prior to my diagnosis February 2022 I played social tennis three times a week+ table tennis and thought I was doing pretty well for 71 year old. So, to be told I needed a Bypass and to give up everything that made my life worth living was a shock. However, compared to what others including yourself have to endure I've no right to complain. I sincerely hope your health improves all the best for the future regards, Denis
The wonderful thing about life is that we all have the right to complain - because we’re all individuals and yes some people have been through and suffered a great deal more than others but it’s all proportionate to our own lives and experiences ie. You might not have had as much surgery or impact on your life as someone else but your experience with your heart might be the worst thing that’s ever happened in your life - am I making sense?
Many of my friends can’t understand how I consider myself fortunate when I share my story/ experience but then I remind them that I’m still here and my future is still to be written. Yes I still have cardiac symptoms of one variation or another daily but I’m still here and I’m getting the privilege of watching my children grow 😁
Medication is a difficult balancing act for many of us and I commend you for being able to advocate for yourself whilst taking professional opinion into consideration too. It sounds like you’ve spent quite some time deliberating and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make.
Wishing you all the best and hope for continued improvement for you.
Soap
Hi 👋 MummaSoap, thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. Prior to August 2021 I had no idea/symptoms of heart disease. I only mentioned it to my GP in passing. That started an inexorable process that resulted in a Cat Scan January 2022. Three weeks later I had a call to see how I was coping with my heart medication and they needed me back asap for an Angiogram.
Could you please repeat that!! I guess your diagnosis came as a similar shock?
However, since my Bypass and joining this forum it's made me appreciate just how fortunate I am when compared to most people who fall victim to heart disease. I've not suffered years of ill health and I don't feel much different at 72 than I did at 40. Sadly, my hair's gone south!
As to my bold step in stopping my meds frankly I'm not so brave. The side effects were just becoming intolerable and I'd tried everything else. Switching times I took them etc. And, I'd managed to get past the 1st 5mths. And, there's an argument that the risks of a hemorrhage exceed the risks of a blood clot following open heart surgery if intensive blood thinning treatment is continued from 90 days onwards.
I'm still taking a daily Aspirin + Omeprazole so I'm not entirely drug free but when compared to my daily regimen of seven + pain killers post Bypass it's night to day.
Thanks once again for replying and sharing an insight into your own experience. I don't know about you but I find it quite therapeutic to interact with others who have walked the walk.
Best wishes for your future heart health, Denis.
I had cabgx2 last week.History very similar to yours except that i didn't want the op, my wife bullied me into it.I'm probably the worst patient ever, the doc wanted cabgx4- fix everything all in one go.I hit the roof at the idea- in any case i got my way in the end but was dreading waking up with four in.
I went in for a double bypass last year. Coming round in ICU I was shocked to hear 2 nurses discussing me and triple bypass. I was glad they did 3 because I don't want to go through all that again!
Hope you're coping as I guess you're home by now. I felt like I'd been released from prison when I was discharged on day five following my Bypass. The euphoria soon wore off when it dawned on me I was looking at six weeks sleeping on my back and those infernal compression stockings!
In truth I began to regret my decision to have Bypass surgery when the only place I could sleep was in a chair 💺!
And I got off lightly when compared to others.
On the upside five months on and I'm now reaping the benefits other than the odd twinge. So, probably your wife was right to persuade you to go through your operation. One of the great things about the human mind is how quickly you forget the past and live in the present so what ever you're going through now will soon be forgotten if my experience is anything to go by.
All the best for the future, regards Denis.
thanks for your reply Denis.There is a word for what you say-hedonistic adaptation- this means if you win the lottery you can still be miserable, or if you are in prison it could be a happy time.We get used to stuff and default to our natural mood level.
I didn't know I was supposed to wear the stockings I took them off when I got home.My wife probably was right about the op.I'd passed the stress test twelve minutes on the treadmill test, and didn't even want the angioplasty because I didn't think I needed it and nearly cancelled but considered I had to man up and once I'd had that done it would all be over. They said your left main is narrowed where it splits and the LAD had 20-30mm distal stenosis that we can't stent.Right there on the table I was arguing with the guy saying a bypass is too scary you have to cut my chest open.Put the stents in, or if you can't do that at least blow the narrow bit up with a balloon.He said it'd shrink down again.
I argued separately with every member of the team and I'm sure they were sick of me.One was a woman, I said if I was you Dad what would you say?She said Bypass.They said they'd give me time to see if I wanted referring.It must seem very ungrateful to many reading this but I did not want the operation.I researched it and there is a dr esseltyn that says if you eat plants and not meat.I found a study that compared the outcome of those that should have had CABG but didn't and how the rest of their lives went.There are a few cases where plaque gets smaller but my wife wasn't having any of that.
I took the referral but carried on researching and printed off lots from the internet about how I could grow collaterolls and stuff from American forums about all the times It had been carried out unnecessarily .My wife's argument was that the doctors probably knew what they were talking about and the expensive operation wouldn't be offered to me if I didn't need it.
But to get back to your point it was a lot tougher than I thought and I would not want to go through it again but now that's it's done it could be a good thing.
Hi bagsypartime, your post deserves more than my brief response from yesterday evening. Fascinating to hear how your unhappy diagnosis was handled over in the States when compared to the UK. Our universal health care system is creaking at the knees at the moment but in fairness I can't fault my own care and surgeon who did take time out to pop in see me on a daily basis post op.
Though separated by an ocean and some would argue by language 😂! I think we are both similar in respect of questioning any treatment that will directly affect our quality of life. I personally hate having to take any medication and spend far too much time looking at the side effects numbers needed to treat and numbers needed to harm. I'm particularly sceptical re. the benefits of long term statin therapy but as my wife points out I've the intelligence of a knat and most cardiologists would disagree with me. In fact the ones I have spoken to agree with her 🤣!
Well I guess you're know a fortnight? Into post op territory and starting to feel better day by day. I don't know what your particular poison is for me it's tennis 🎾 that's exactly where I'm going to be in a couple of hours. I hope you get back to whatever rocks your boat as soon as you're able.
All the best, Denis
Same here! No way do I want to go through that again 😩!
